Godfred Yeboah Dame
The office of the Attorney General has saved the country from paying a whopping GHc1,272,985,310.26 as outstanding judgement debt to NDK Financial Services.
The private firm was claiming that it was still entitled to more payments amounting to some GH¢1,273,000,000 as judgment debt flowing from a Supreme Court judgment.
But this position was heavily opposed to by the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame who averred that the state had made all outstanding payments to the financial firm.
The Supreme Court in March 2019 appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers Ghana – an accounting and auditing firm – to ascertain the veracity of the over GH¢1.27 billion claims being made by NDK Financial Services Limited against the government through the Ministry of Energy.
The state being represented by the Attorney-General and the private firm were subsequently ordered by the court to prepare legal accounts for the auditing firm to work with.
A five member panel of the Supreme Court presided over by Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah and assisted by Justices Jones Dotse, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Sulemana Gbadegbe (rtd), and Nene Amegatcher in unanimous decision held that government only owes NDK Financial Servives GHc14,689.75 as outstanding debt.
Government is to pay the sum with interest at the prevailing rate starting from November 14, 2014 to the day of final payment.
The court said full reasons for its judgment would be ready at its registry by June 4, 2021.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak